Former India batter Krishnamachari Srikkanth lashed out at the Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Axar Patel as his team bundled for only 75 runs against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday night.
Krish Srikkanth reflects that Axar Patel has done very little to benefit the team both with bat and ball for the team in this season’s IPL. Even as the captain of the team, Srikkanth raised a question about Patel’s contribution.
Axar Patel is under more immense pressure because of his individual performance
In the ongoing Indian Premier League season, the 32-year-old spin bowling all-rounder, Axar Patel, has taken only 7 wickets in 8 matches at an economy rate of 8.33. With the bat, as the middle-order batter of the team has claimed only 31 runs in 6 innings, averaging 6.20, including the best score of 26 not out.
“He hasn’t done anything with the bat in a long time. Even as an all-rounder and captain, it’s been ages since he has done anything. When was the last time he did anything deadly with a bat or ball? How can the team come up with this if this is the case?” Kris Srikkanth, the former Team India captain, raised his concern over Axar Patel in his YouTube video.
In the previous match, Delhi Capitals scored 264!
DC’s 10 wickets for 75 against RCB came after the match, where he posted a massive total of 264. Against the Punjab Kings, the Delhi Capitals secured 264 runs, powered by a 150-plus run knock by KL Rahul. It was strange to watch the same team, which batted so brilliantly in the previous match, fail all apart in the very next game.
Despite scoring 264 runs, the Punjab Kings hunted down the target with ease, which was definitely a major setback for DC. It is clear from the outside that something is wrong in the team. They have class, they have skills, and all the required tools in their squad, but somehow, they are not clicking.
Srikkanth put the entire middle-order batting line-up of the Delhi Capitals under the scanner. He took one name after another and explained in brief why the team has been struggling.
Srikkanth called Nitish Rana a gone case
The former batter labelled the experienced Indian batter, Nitish Rana, as a gone case. He pointed out Sameer Rizvi’s weakness against the fast and medium pacers. Srikkanth took on the overseas batters of the team, like Tristan Stubbs and David Miller, as well.
“It’s been ages since Tristan Stubbs scored something substantial. Nitish Rana is a gone case when you bounce him. Sameer Rizvi struggles against fast or medium-fast bowling at the start of his innings. If he gets set after smashing some spinner for 20, he’ll play well then even against pacers. Miller has also done nothing impactful,” he added.
